1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer based calendaring and scheduling (C&S) and more particularly to meeting agenda generation in a C&S system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Calendaring systems have formed the core component of personal information management software and firmware applications for decades. Initially, a mere calendar display, modem calendaring systems provide scheduling and alarm functions in addition to full integration with contact management, time entry, billing and project management applications. The typical calendaring application minimally provides a mechanism for scheduling an event to occur on a certain date at a certain time. Generally, the event can be associated with a textual description of the event. More advanced implementations also permit the association of the scheduled event with a particular contact, a particular project, or both. Furthermore, most calendar applications provide functionality for setting an alarm prior to the occurrence of the event, as well as archival features.
Several software products include support for Calendaring & Scheduling (C&S). Known C&S products include Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook, and web-based products like Yahoo! Calendar. These products allow one to manage personal events including appointments and anniversaries. C&S products also typically allow one to manage shared events, referred to generally as e-meetings.
E-meetings scheduled within a C&S system often provide for several e-meeting presenters. An e-meeting presenter is a participant to a meeting who leads at least a portion of the e-meeting by presenting content, either through real-time communications and messaging, conferencing, application sharing/screen sharing or white-boarding. Oftentimes, presenters upload content to the e-meeting room in advance of the e-meeting for e-meeting participants to review asynchronously. Thus, as presenters drive the nature of an e-meeting, knowing for certain the identity of those presenters guaranteed to attend an e-meeting can be critical.
At the time of scheduling an e-meeting in a C&S system, the e-meeting chairperson through a user interface provided by the C&S system can select a block of time for the e-meeting and can create an agenda that spans the block of time. Of note, though, the agenda often can be dependent upon the participation of others—namely the presenters. To the extent that the number and identity of the presenters to a meeting change, so too must the agenda.
For example, in some circumstances, a presenter may decline an invitation to an e-meeting, or the presentation of one presenter may exceed an allotted time preventing subsequent presenters from participating in the e-meeting. At present, however, the agenda to an e-meeting cannot be updated based upon changes in the number and identity of presenters participating. Rather, agendas are fixed and immovable once set at the outset irrespective of the number and identity of presenters to an e-meeting.